Notre Dame Vs. UConn: 10 To 1
In the history of basketball — men’s, women’s, high school, college, pro … — the 2017-18 Notre Dame women are probably the first in one season to have fewer losses (three) than players lost for the year to ACL injuries (four).
That’s not even including a broken nose incurred by sophomore guard Jackie Young and season-long ankle problems by senior forward Kathryn Westbeld, who also had a swollen eye from which she was unable to see from a game earlier this year.
And now in tonight’s Final Four in Columbus, Ohio, scheduled for a tip-off around 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2, Notre Dame will be fighting the greatest of all odds in virtually any athletic endeavor: slaying the UConn dynasty.
This is an NCAA record 11th consecutive Final Four for the Huskies, besting the previous standard of 10 by the UCLA men from 1967-76. Under head coach Geno Auriemma, UConn has captured 12 national titles since 1995 and four straight from 2013-16 before getting upset at the horn in the semifinals last season by Mississippi State.
The Huskies are 188-2 since the start of the 2013-14 season, 147-1 in their last 148 contests, and had the NCAA record of 111 consecutive wins snapped last season (it also has had winning streaks of 90 and 70).
“The pressure’s off,” said Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw, who has directed the Fighting Irish to the Final Four for the eighth time, and sixth in the last eight seasons. “Finally we’re in a situation where we’re the underdog again, and I think it’s one we will really relish. … We have nothing to lose, we have everything to gain, just go play our game and play loose.”
10 Points Notre Dame led by at UConn on Dec. 3 (68-58) with 7:48 remaining before the Huskies closed with a 22-3 run for an 80-71 victory. Otherwise, the Huskies’ average margin of victory this year has been 37.1 points.
UConn pulled off the win despite two of its All-Americans — Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams — relegated to the bench much of the fourth quarter for health reasons.
9 Field goals recorded by Westbeld on 12 attempts in the Regional Final win versus Oregon. That output was a career high for the relatively overshadowed figure who has been in a walking boot the past two weeks and been unable to practice while healing from an ankle injury suffered in the first round. Her poise and clutch play the past three games have been a huge factor and inspiration to the team.
8 Connecticut is shooting for its 8th consecutive victory against the Irish, dating back to the April 7, 2013 in the Final Four — after Notre Dame had won seven of the eight previous meetings with Skylar Diggins at point guard (including 3-0 in 2012-13 prior to the loss).
7 This can be considered “the best of seven” matchup between the two programs in NCAA Tournament action. Notre Dame is 3-1 against Connecticut in the semifinal round, winning in 2001 (en route to the national title), 2011 and 2012, but losing in 2013. In this series the Fighting Irish also are 0-2 in the championship game, falling to UConn in 2014 and 2015.
6 Three-point field goals needed by Notre Dame junior guard Marina Mabrey to break the NCAA Tournament record of 22 set last year by Connecticut guard Kia Nurse last year. Mabrey has converted 17-of-27 treys in four tourney games this year for a phenomenal .630 percentage.
5 Connecticut players average double-figure scoring: Samuelson (17.5), Napheesa Collier (15.9). Azura Stevens (14.6), Nurse (13.6) and Williams (11.1). The sixth, point guard Crystal Dangerfield, is at 9.6 and scored 21 — including 5-of-5 from three in the first half — in the Elite Eight win versus defending national champion South Carolina.
4 In the four NCAA Tournament games this season Notre Dame has averaged 92.8 points and is the lone Final Four team to eclipse 80 points each time. The starting five has averaged 84.2 points, with junior guard Arike Ogunbowale’s 25.0 average the best in the tournament. Junior forward Jessica Shepard (20.0) and Mabrey (19.5) have been likewise prolific.
This week, McGraw also won the Associated Press Coach of the Year Award for the fourth time, to go with the same honors from USA Today and espnW.
3 Notre Dame players who have recorded at least 100 assists this season — a first in school history. Mabrey has set the pace with 163 while sophomore Young has 137 and Ogunbowale 103. As a team, the Irish are averaging 19.2 assists per game, which is sixth nationally, and the 1.39 assist-to-turnover ratio would tie for the second highest all-time at the school.
2 McGraw and her Irish are vying for the program’s second national title — the first since 2001 — despite being basically the nation’s second-best program to UConn this decade.
1 Ogunbowale’s 20.7 scoring average is a single season Notre Dame record so far, eclipsing the 20.4 standard set by Katryna Gaither during the program’s first Final Four campaign in 1996-97. This week she was named one of the 10 best players by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, and previously was selected second-team All-American by the AP, USA Today, espnW and USBWA.
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